Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Summary and Analysis

Author: Tom Stoppard

Setting, Plot, and Characters: The play opens with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (two noble families from Denmark with a vague Jewish sound) playing coins in the forest. Somehow, there has been an unprecedented run of heads. As the two men start to become more nervous, Guildenstern starts to make sense of what's happening. This begins a motif that continues throughout the play in which Guildenstern tries to prove certain laws of physics. After a little, R+G come across a troupe of Tragedians who specialize in a special kind of performance. The Tragedians play a round of coins with R+G. Ros and Guil, believing they have won, allow the Players to pay them back in the form of a performance. Guildenstern taunts the audience when he suggests that the young Alfred and him could set a "dramatic precedent". As the Players leave, it is revealed that R+G did not actually win the coin toss. Having been summoned the Elsinore, Ros and Guil finally arrive in the castle. They are given the task of finding the source of young Hamlet's madness. The two men practice by playing a game of questions, adding to their previous confusion. However, they are not able to detect the reason for Hamlet's behavior. Various scenes of Hamlet interrupt Rosencrantz and Guildenstern's conversations, and they have to switch to a more elevated speech. After Hamlet kills Polonius, R+G are sent to accompany him to England. While on the boat, the two discuss the meaning of life and death, but can never come to a conclusion. When they look at the letter they were sent with, they find that King Claudius is sending Hamlet to his death. As the two sleep, Hamlet switches out the letter to order the execution of R+G instead. In the morning, the Tragedians pop out of some barrels and talk about death some more. R+G, realizing they’re doomed, think about staying on the ship before giving up and dying. The play closes on the final scene of Hamlet as the ambassador tells Horatio that R+G are dead.

Analysis: Stoppard’s voice is generally dry and cynical. While holding true to the absurdist idea that life is meaningless, he also brings in other elements. In addition to saying that life is meaningless, Stoppard tries to figure out what we can use to find meaning in a life without it. He brings up various examples including relationships with others and religion. There is little to no imagery in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, as everything is pretty nondescript. Stoppard seems to be separate from the plot of the play, judging R+G’s actions, and as a result our own. One of the most prevalent symbols in the play was the coin, which represents binary opposition; each side cannot exist without the other. This idea comes up a lot throughout the work: life and death, light and dark, presence and absence. Stoppard adds another level of complexity by setting the play within another play. In the text alone it is unclear whether R+G are participating in an actual production of Hamlet or are actual men living in Denmark.

Cool Quotes:

“Guil: You and I Alfred - we could create a dramatic precedent here” (32)

This is a perfect example of Stoppard taunting the audience. Once Guildenstern says this, the audience begins to feel guilty about laughing about child rape for the last five minutes. Stoppard is constantly testing the limits of traditional theater and in this case, attempting to make the audience feel uncomfortable. 

“Ros: ...ask yourself, if I asked you straight off - I’m going to stuff you in this box now, would you rather be alive or dead? Naturally you’d prefer to be alive.” (71)

Throughout the play, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, the Players, and even Hamlet are questioning life and death. In this case, Stoppard is asserting the Ros and Guil’s lives are essentially like living in a box. Neither of them have a choice about their fates and it is questionable whether or not they have any choice at all. In a box, they would not be able to move very much from their original spot, much like their lives. 

THEME: Stoppard suggests that there may be incomprehensible forces shaping our lives, making it impossible to control or understand them.

Since there is no imagery in the play, Stoppard is trying to say that our mere senses are not enough to understand our lives. R+G are constantly trying to make sense of the world around them, but they are never able to. Stoppard (and the Players), on the other hand, are on the outside of this, judging R+G’s progress. R+G are so confused all of the time because the forces shaping their lives are incomprehensible.